Happy Third Anniversary (to me)!

Three years ago this week, I took the leap and hit the “publish” button for the first time. The blog “Travel. Garden. Eat.” entered the blogosphere. Three years of blogging = 314 posts, 21,118 visitors, and 48,048 views.

As I begin year four of my blogging journey, it is interesting to look back on posts of interest — whether yours or mine. Some have been shared far and wide, others that I hold dear because of the memories they evoke may have stayed closer to home – it’s all good. When one first tentatively puts that post out for public consumption, whether the effort is viewed or “liked” holds more importance, but I think over time that becomes less and less a point of attention. Instead, this blog continues to be my creative outlet, for words and images.

Versailles on a Rainy Day

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.”

~ Anaïs Nin

The topics of traveling, gardening and eating merely serve as a base — life is rich and varied, and I think blogging often provides the opportunity to remind oneself that the little things in life are often the most rewarding. A walk in the woods can be just as rejuvenating and eye-opening as a journey across the sea. Our own backyards often yield just as much interest as the backyards of our neighbors far and near.

Beargrass in Glacier National Park

The most viewed posts over the past few years reflect that philosophy of interest near and far. For the five months I blogged in 2012, the posts with the highest views were all in response to Weekly Photo Challenges — a great way to engage bloggers on a wide variety of topics, and help inspire a little creative stretch from time to time! The challenges of Big, Renewal, and Everyday Life generated the most traffic that first year.

Buona sera, Trastevere!

In 2013, traveling and eating both were reflected in the most viewed posts:

“A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.”

~ Ansel Adams

Iceberg Lake Trail ~ Glacier National Park

Thank you to all who have followed along since the first year, as well as those who have joined more recently — all 989 of you (spammers and all — I don’t flatter myself to think that I have almost 1000 engaged followers, but I am grateful and amazed by how many truly interesting and engaging bloggers and readers I have met along the way!). For a little celebratory fun, I updated the look of the blog, and welcome any feedback you have — Font hard to read? Like the layout? Miss the old look? All comments welcome.

Thank you for your creativity – Happy Anniversary to you Ms Kat B! you always engage with your beautiful words, thoughts, quotes, photos and just how you give us a glimpse, a thought, a question. Here is to you!

More Photos on Flickr

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Comment Policy

I welcome the open exchange of ideas and conversation through the comments on my blog posts. All first-time commenters on my blog are reviewed before publishing; however, I do reserve the right to moderate, or even delete any comment, particularly if it appears to be spam, if it includes vulgarity or inappropriate profanity (despite my occasional potty mouth, most folks prefer not to see it in print!), or if it attacks another reader. Links are fine, so long as they add value to the conversation.
I look forward to hearing from you! ~ Kat B.